North Beach at Fort DeSoto was named the best beach in America in 2005, so when I lived in Lakeland that summer I took a day trip to see it. There was almost no one there; the smell of dead fish from a particularly bad red tide probably scared everyone away. It was gorgeous – unlike the other Florida beaches which all have boardwalks and hotels behind them, this one was totally natural, beautiful and completely isolated. It reminded me of Cape Cod. I wish I had gotten a chance to go back.